Veneto Regional Contact Point for cross-border healthcare

The Veneto Regional Contact Point (PCR) for cross-border healthcare, established by means of Resolution of the Regional Council no. 75 of 27/1/2015, is based at the Hospital in Padua. Specifically, concerning the pediatric oncology services, it operates at the Pediatric Oncology, and concerning the adult oncology services, it operates at the Veneto Oncology Institute (IOV).

The Regional Contact Point aims to facilitate the flow of information with the National Contact Point (NCP). It offers information assistance to: • Italian patients who are abroad or who wish to travel abroad to benefit from health services; • foreign patients in Italy from one of the EU Member States or who wish to come to Italy and benefit from the health services provided by the public and private Italian healthcare system (SSN).

It also provides information to citizens on: • possibility of receiving cross-border healthcare; • terms and conditions of reimbursement and related costs; • access procedures and definition of cross-border healthcare rights; • healthcare services subject to prior authorization; • means of appeal and protection if patients consider their rights recognized by the Decree violated, including legal and administrative procedures for the resolution of disputes, even in the event of damages arising from cross-border healthcare. • Distinction between the rights granted to patients by Legislative Decree 38/2014 and those deriving from regulation (EC) no. 883/2004 of 29/4/2004. The competent structures Health and Social Area, in coordination with the Social-Health Relations Sector, deal with the sending, through the PCR to the PCN, of the technical information related to the performance of the institutional responsibilities prescribed by Legislative Decree no. 38/2014.

CONTACTS

For information:

Call the TOLL-FREE NUMBER: 800310640active from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.Send an e-mail to: puntocontattoregionale@aopd.veneto.it indicating: personal details, Ulss of belonging, summary of the request and telephone number to be re-contacted.

PLANNED CARE IN ITALY

Citizens form European Union planning to come to Italy for medical treatments can access the cures of National Health Service (SSN) physicians in public structures. If you would like to be cured in Italy there are actually two different ways that permit to handle the coverage of the entire cost of the treatments by your national health care system:

1. Direct Assistance: health care services provided by Italian public structures or by Italian doctors part of the state run health care are paid directly by your national health care system (direct assistance). It is always required that your own country’s health care institution approves the treatment and, in case of a positive reply, you do not even have to pay in advance for it, but you can be asked to participate through a co-payment.

Directive on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare: Indirect Assistance It represents a recent system that do not consider a direct payment by your health-care institution: you have to pay the health-care services on your own and lately ask for a refund. For some treatments it could be necessary a previous authorization to be able to obtain the refund. These two ways could imply different procedures and criteria in order to cover all the costs. Nevertheless, it is necessary to be fully informed, contacting your Health-Care Institutions or the National Contact Point of your country (link), even because the European Regulations could find specific applications in the country you live in and they could be integrated with specific National Regulations. Independently on which of the two ways you choose, it is always recommendable to contact the selected health-care provider in advance, in order to know the entity of the waiting times, the available therapeutic options, and, if you choose the “Indirect Assistance”, information about the tariffs in place. Of note, it is not possible to use the TEAM card in order to obtain the refunds for these kind of treatments (planned treatments). In fact, the TEAM card utility is limited to conditions that require emergency care treatment when you are abroad.

Direct Assistance This system provides that citizens from an European country or from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) or from Switzerland can obtain the refunds for planned health-care services in public structures or private ones part of the state run health care (SSN). This system can be activated if the waiting time to be cured in the original country is too long for the clinical condition of the patient. In general, health-care services costs are covered by the original country only if you are entitled to these cures by the country of your origin. If you respect these conditions, you must require a preventive authorization at your Health-Care Institutions to be sure that the costs of the treatments will be refund. If the authorization will be approved, your Health-Care Institutions will release the “S2-certificate” with which you will be able to obtain in Italy the treatments you got approved and the payment for them. The certificate has to be exhibited to the Local Health Unit (ASL) that deals with the health-care Institution you chose or, if you chose instead a hospital, directly to it. Regarding the costs’ refunds, this system works with the same regulations as the Italian system. For this reason, you could be asked to pay the “ticket” (Italian sanitary tax on every health-care service). The refund covers all the costs concerning the health-care treatments received in Italy. This means that, if you are cured for example in a hospital, the costs for the hospital meals and stay are paid as well. You should verify at your Health-Care Institution if you are entitled for the refunding of other costs, like the travel, hotel or other costs that are not directly related to the health-care service. This system cannot be applied to the following types of cure: medical assistance at home for long periods (which target is to sustain patients that need assistance for ordinary daily activities), organ transplantation programs and public vaccination for infectious diseases. If you would like to obtain the refund for even these kind of treatments in Italy, you can follow the specific procedure for using the Direct Assistance or you can follow other legislation in force in your country. Differently from the “Regulations”, this system (“Directive”) guarantees to the citizens of the European Union the right to benefit of the health-care services in any country of the European Union with the same regulations in force in the country of origin. This means that: • The refundable treatments are only the ones guaranteed by your Sanitary System; • The entity of the refund amounts to the cost that your sanitary system would have paid if the treatment weretaken in your country, not exceeding the total cost of the treatment. Each country can decide if they want to refund the entire cost of the cure if it exceed the amount they would pay if the treatment would be done in the country of origin. Furthermore they can decide to refund even the cost of the travel and to pay the eventual assistant. Normally the refund of the costs works with the indirect system; you will have to pay in advance the health-care services and then ask to your Institutions the refunding. In order to obtain the refund for specific types of treatment it could be necessary to have a previous authorization by your Health-Care Institutions. If it is necessary and your request fulfills the conditions of the “Regulations”, the authorization will be released upon these “Regulations”, unless you ask specifically to take advantage of the “Directive”. Even private doctors not part of the state run health care (SSN doctors) can provide the refundable health-care services. You can ask at your own Health-Care Institutions or at the National Contact Point of your country more information regarding your rights, the authorizations, the refunds and the procedures that have to be followed.

Costs and Refunds Health-care professionals that work in Italy, public, private part of the state run health care or private not part of the state run health care ones, have to apply the same price as they do for Italian patients. Get more information at the health-care provider you chose in order to know how much you will have to pay for the treatments you need. In Italy, in the public health-care system, health-care professionals can work even privately (Intramural Activity). In this way the costs could be higher because the waiting times are shorter. Before making a reservation, we suggest you to verify which kind of rate is applied to that specific health-care service. The entity of the refund provided by the EU Directive about health-care costs amounts to the sum that would be have paid by your National Health Service for the same treatments. Specific laws of your country of origin regulate the refund of the eventual gap between the health-care cost and the entity of the refund or the refund of other costs (travel, assistance, etc). Keep every kind of sanitary documents and the bills, they will be necessary to require the refund at the Health-Care Institution of your country. You can ask at the Health-Care Institutions or at the National Contact Point of your country more information regarding your rights, the authorizations, the refunds and the procedures that have to be followed.

Travelling outside the European Economic Area (EEA) The UK has reciprocal healthcare agreements with the non-EEA countries and territories listed below. If you're visiting any of these countries and need urgent or immediate medical treatment, it will be provided at a reduced cost or, in some cases, for free. The agreements do not cover the cost of returning you to the UK (repatriation) or routine monitoring of pre-existing conditions.